15 Day Book Blogger Challenge…Day 6

This is day 6 in  April’s ( Good Book Good Wine ) 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge . Are you enjoying these posts?

Its never to late to sign up and start all you have to do is head over to the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge to find out how to get started.

Today’s topic is:

Describe How You Shop For Books

I don’t really have a particular way that I shop for books and I know that there are people who have their way of shopping nailed down to a tee.

As a book blogger I do have a little note book that I list my wish list books and I make sure I carry it around with me all the time. I have even started to make notes in my phone with books I really want to check out.

When I go to the book store, I avoid taking a bag when its offered because that is always deadly for me. I also keep in mind of a budget I set for myself before going into the store because its so easy to over spend.

I will always head for the new releases in both the adult and ya sections to see what is new.

After that section I always head to the bargain books because you never know what you will find there.

Then its off to the adult and then ya sections to check out the books I have on my wishlist  to see if there is anything I really want. Sometimes I even end up scratching books off the wishlist because they turn out to be something that I didn’t want to read in the end.

Finally when that is done I will walk back through the sections to see if there was something I might have missed that I didn’t have on my list.

Do you have a routine for shopping?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Meme/ Know Me Better #1

I was just recently introduced to this new blog I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and I was instantly hooked when I saw her pretty blog design. You should check it out if you haven’t already.

Kathy has created this wonderful meme and each week she will pick 5 questions off her author interview list for us to answer.

Kathy invites you to share your answers to these questions as well. You can either leave your answers in this weeks post which if you click here it will take you to it or you can create a post on your blog and then go back and link to this weeks post by clicking here and it will take you there.

This is my first week in taking part and I am so excited. This looks like it will be alot of fun and a great way to get to know me a little bit more.

What’s your favorite word?
What words or expression do you overuse?
If you were on Death Row what would your last meal be?
Pets?
Facebook or Twitter?

So lets get into my answers shall we.

What’s your favorite word?

  • This is one of those questions that I literally had to stop and think about.

What words or expressions do you overuse?

  • Okay in real life its always, Your not going to believe this! I have been told that I use this alot and I when I check my text messages I do write that alot. Online, especially my blog I use So a little more then I should.

If you were on Death Row what would your last meal be?

  • OMG that is so easy its a three cheese pasta dish with roasted vegetable. It so delicious but we don’t make it very often because its got roughly $20 worth of cheese in it. Yea that is the most expensive item in these dish. Honestly when you have it just once you want it all the time.

Pets?

  • No we don’t have any pets. We did have a cat before Michael was born and it was a cat with attitude. She started to scratch us for no reason and was developing sores so we had to put her down. Then when Michael started school he wanted a gold fish but months later it developed fin rot and died. I hate seeing animals die so I said no more pets. I can’t handle it.

Facebook or Twitter?

  • Honestly for me its gotta be facebook. I do use twitter but not as often as I should or like.

So this is my answers this week. Check back next week to see what else you can discover about me.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

New Skin Care Routine

Growing up, I always had to deal with acne and had hoped that eventually it would stop but low and behold it doesn’t, at least not in my case.

Over the past year or so it seems like every other month is worse and this past month was no exception so I decided to use Kellett’s Clarifying Acne Treatment. Which was a sample I got in one of my beauty box subscription services lately.

Since I am fair skin I only went with one application instead of two. Well sadly it was the first and last time I will ever use it. I ended up tossing it into the garbage.

If you are a reader of my blog you know I never say anything negative about anything but this time is the exception and I am only basing this on my experience with the product.

Like I said I got this for free in one of my beauty subscription boxes and I am not obligated to review any of the products since I physically paid for the boxes.

With this break out I decided that I would try the Kellett’s Clarifying Acne treatment to see if it would clear it up. Well I had no sooner put it on when it began to feel like it was burning, I decided to wait a bit since I thought that perhaps thats what it was suppose to do but when it began to burn and itch I immediately washed it off.

It was a rough night because all I kept doing was scratching my face. In the morning it was red and I had more break outs and nothing I did seemed to help or get rid of the burning itch and the dry flakiness that had appeared. I tried to conceal it but it didn’t help. This was a hot mess on my face and I didn’t like it.

I went to my pharmacy to see if they could recommend something before deciding if I need to do to my drs and thankfully a fantastic lady told me about this:

Its La Roche-Posay skin line. She told me that the prickling and redness was because my skin no longer tolerates the application of that product and its called Intolerant Skin and right now its hyper sensitive.

She was fantastic with telling me all about this particular line and that it should work. I was worried that this was going to be expensive and she could see it on my face and quickly let me know that she thought there was a kit available to try and she found one so I bought it.

I quickly came home to try it and right away I noticed that it wasn’t as burning and itchy as it was before. I washed my face with warm water and applied the cleanser, gently tapped my face with a towel before spraying the spring water on my face (which I have to say was hard to get use to at first because you can’t get it into your eyes) and then I finished off with the soothing cream.

The next morning when I looked in the mirror it appeared much better, there wasn’t as much redness as the night before. I instantly noticed a difference that next day after using it and gradually the past few days the hot mess is now getting much better.

I wish I would have taken a picture of this hot mess but I was totally embarrassed by it. I felt like I was in high school all over again. I kept my head down and didn’t go out like I normally do and tried to cover it up the best I could.

I really like these products and I think I will go back and perhaps speak to that lady again about finding out what is good for my face and continuing that as my new skin care line.

What is your go to skin care? Have you tried this before?

Please note I was in no way compensated for this review. I purchased these products with my own money.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Q&A with Author Brian Holers

Today I am honored to have author Brian Holers stop by for a Q&A. Brian is promoting his book Doxology.

Please enjoy this interview with Brian Holers, author of the literary novel, Doxology. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

1. Why did you choose to write about characters who set out to rediscover their faiths?

The characters in Doxology don’t really set out to rediscover their faiths—they simply rediscover them when everything else is lost. My two central characters, Vernon and Jody, uncle and nephew, are just living life as the story begins. Jody has a pretty good, interesting life, he has a stable job working for a nice family, he’s in love with the daughter of that family and works for the son and father. He has totally inserted himself into this family, and his life has promise. Only when he learns that his father is dying does he decide to return home, deal with things he has successfully avoided, and discover the great role faith has played in making him who he is. Vernon, conversely, is making his way through life, but just barely; the tragic loss of his son has made him a mere shell of the man he once was, and the greatest joy of his current life is his ongoing endeavor to show his disdain for God. Only when he fails in the one pitiful thing he has left, when he is broken down to absolutely nothing, is a return to faith possible. The story is entirely fabricated, without really a shred of reality, though I can recognize parts of myself in many of the characters. Particularly Jody’s girlfriend.

2. What was the inspiration for this book?

The inspiration for Doxology was the longstanding concept of “my brother’s keeper,” superimposed on the Jewish concept of “dayeinu”. Dayeinu is what Jews say during the Passover seder in contemplation of the many things God has done for us—the concept of “it would have been enough.” “If only God had led us out of the desert, dayeinu, it would have been enough. But no, God did something more.” In 2005, when I finally started writing, I worked on short stories and met twice a month with a group of other writers. When my wife and I decided to leave the country for a year, I figured, well I won’t be meeting with a writers’ group anymore, maybe I’ll just write a book. And I wrote the first several drafts of that book while we were traveling, from a smelly dive-shop hotel in Zanzibar, where I had to drag a rickety wooden table into our room and kick my wife and son out for the afternoon, to a beachfront room in Phuket, to the lobby of a YMCA hotel in Jerusalem, to a coffee shop with stale cookies in Malaysia, where my family and I helped build a Habitat for Humanity house during the day. And really that trip cemented for me the idea that anywhere you go, the stories are the same. We all care most about our families. There are so many good things God does for us.

3. What surprises did you encounter in writing Doxology?

The greatest surprise I encountered when writing Doxology was the way Vernon kept trying to take over. When the story began, it was all about Jody. The problem was, Vernon’s conflict was more immediate right from the beginning—dealing with the death of his only son, his constant drinking and self-destructive behavior. He just kept taking over—maybe Jody’s struggle was so much harder to portray, since he seems to be doing pretty well in his current life, unlike Vernon. I overcame this problem by letting go—I stopped fighting it. I let Vernon take over, and then struggled to really work my way inside Jody, which took a long time. I overcame the problem by deciding the book was going to be done when it was done, and I couldn’t rush it.

4. Why did you decide to become a writer?

I discovered my passion for stories at a young age—I have always been filled with stories. It took me awhile to begin to try and write them down. It also took me a few years to discover that trying to tell people the stories I imagined just made everyone think I was weird (which is a fair assessment) and that I talked too much. I’m glad it worked out this way though—if I had discovered my passion for writing at a young age, I would probably have struggled in a losing battle to make my living that way, and I’d be discouraged and burned out by now. What I discovered instead, in my twenties, is that for a guy so animated by imaginary stories, I’m surprising adept at negotiating the physical world. A dozen or so years of self employment allowed me to strip away a lot of detritus, have a lot of time alone to think. Once, a consultant I hired to help me manage my tree service told me that the world inside my head was more vivid to me than the world outside, and that’s when I decided I had to get serious about my writing.

5. What is the most effective resource you have found for writing?

The only effective resource I have come across to hone my craft is time. And the best advice I received is not to rush. Even when you think you’re done the first or the first several times, put the book away for awhile and come back to it. Don’t rush. I wish I had kept track of how much time I spent on this book—I would guess between 3,000 and 4,000 hours. For one little book! But the advice goes deeper—don’t rush, make a schedule and sit there and write. Give yourself the time and then sit there and do it. If you’re like most of us and have a job, don’t try to commit too much of your day to it. Give it an hour a day, two hours, whatever. Just commit to it. It’s so much easier to come home from work, have a few drinks, go to the bar, and sit and stare at the stories in your head and say “I’m a writer.” You’re only a writer if you’re writing. As for bad advice, I am totally self taught in this craft—the only bad advice I have received is regarding publishing. A lot of people told me even a year ago not to self-publish. However, I have one thing now I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t decided to self-publish, and that is a book.

6. What is your favorite writing ritual?

My favorite writing ritual is to go to my desk at night after my son goes to bed, have my wife put on her headset if she wants to watch TV or listen to music or whatever, just make it very quiet, and sit there until I really need to go to bed.

7. What do you like about writing?

My favorite part of the writing process is the feeling I get each step of the way, which comes from deciding what I can do that day is good enough. Lately I’ve been writing essays. I start with jotting down notes—I write a lot by hand, I think better that way. I’ll write down in my sloppy scratch all the ideas that come to mind on a subject. Then the next session, I’ll organize all those notes, expand a bit, put them all in order. Again, all on paper. Next time I’ll write a draft, and even as I’m writing I know there will be a lot I want to change. Then I’ll print it, make changes, and write again. But I decide each step, and each draft, is good enough for what it is. My least favorite part of writing is that it’s always late and I’m always tired and have to get through it, which I do by setting short-term goals. The greatest of which is brushing my teeth and going to sleep.

8. Why did you decide to self-publish Doxology?

The traditional, old-school publishing world is in total disarray, which is why writers like me have to take things into their own hands. For a lot of us, especially first time or unpublished writers, our hope to be published is simply that, hope. We look at getting a publishing contract as our best chance of being somebody. Now that I’m out here, I have a better sense of how books are sold, and I am here to tell you it is not easy. Possible, yes, but not easy. There are a zillion other forms of entertainment that require much less effort. A publisher really has to sell several thousand copies of your book before beginning to break even. And if you’re just a regular Joe like I am, and nobody’s heard of you, that’s a tall order. Then the other piece is, even if you do get published, you have to do all the work to sell the book anyway. There’s just not enough money in this equation for a publisher to do any real work for you, not until you’ve begun to prove yourself. Personally, as one with good business sense, I like this new model—there is no one between me and all my potential customers—no one saying it’s not good enough, no one saying we can release your book in 18 months.

9. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Advice to aspiring authors—writing may well be the hardest thing you will ever do. At one time I had tons and tons of business debt, customers calling me daily, six highly-paid guys showing up at work every day looking at me for their instructions. I paid through the nose for liability insurance, workers’ comp, and every tool imaginable. Then I waited for the guys to start calling me to say why the jobs couldn’t be done, while I drove around scrambling for more work. All of that was downright easy compared to writing books. But there’s no joy like it. And while I am normal person who has made a lot of mistakes in life, I have found that the more my life is straight, the better my art. The old concept of the tortured writer or tortured artist with various addictions only goes so far. If you want to write clear, clean prose, make yourself as good a person as you can be, and the words will flow. Keep your head up. Be entertained by your writing. Rejoice in the little things. Ultimately writing should be something you enjoy, that gives you passion. I have read that 10,000 hours pursuant to any activity is required to make one an expert, and writing is no exception.

10. What can you say about this book that we wouldn’t learn from the synopsis?

I am grateful to say, Doxology is a beautifully written book, filled with symbols and layers of meaning. It is so much more than I set out to write, and I am proud to say it is so much better than even I thought it would be. It’s not Dostoevsky or the Holy Bible, no, but it is a sweet, moving, inspiring little story of love, loss, and redemption. All told in a Southern accent so thick it just oozes out of the pages.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Doxology eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

  1. Purchase your copy of Doxology for just 99 cents
  2. Fill-out the simple form on Novel Publicity
  3. Visit today’s featured social media event

Help my blog win:

The tour blogger who receives the most votes in the traffic-breaker poll will win a $100 gift card. When you visit Novel Publicity’s site to fill-out the contest entry form, don’t forget to VOTE FOR ME.

About the book: Fathers, sons and brothers reconnect over tragedy in this blue-collar Southern tale of love, loss, and the healing power of community and family. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: An arborist by day and a novelist in every moment he can steal, Brian makes up stories from the treetops. Visit Brian on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

As you can see you have a chance to win some great prizes. Please check out this link (click on it) and just remember to add my name so that I have a chance to win something to. (The Blogger Traffic Breaker Poll is where you vote for my blog) Thanks in advance.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Shatter Me

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 338
Pub Date: November 2011

Source: I received a finished copy from the publisher for my honest review.

About the book:
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.
-from Goodreads

Shatter Me was one of the most anticipated books on 2011 and it actually peaked my interest so much so that I was anxiously waiting for it to come out. So I was pretty excited when it showed up for review but yet a little apprehensive because so much hype was on this book. What would I think of this book?

I believe Shatter Me is going to be part of a trilogy.

I have to say that I don’t read alot of dystopian books and that is my choice. The book has to be something that interests me and this one did. This wasn’t a fast read for me.

I know so many people dislike the cover because they feel as though it doesn’t go with the book and yes that is true but I have to admit that I really love the cover.

As for the book itself I have read both negative reviews and positive reviews so I was excited to read the book to find out what I would think of it. I am usually one of those who reads a book and feel as though I am a fish swimming up river wondering why they loved it and when I didn’t or why didn’t they love it when I did. As for me I am on the fence with this I didn’t love it or hate it.

I enjoyed that the book wasn’t just a romance book or just an action packed book and that it actually left me wanting to find out what would happen next. I didn’t find it to be predictable at all and it played out very good. I enjoyed the writing and the only thing I had to get use to was when the author would write and scratch things through and then say it again but once I understood the purpose it all made sense.

Juliette is a young girl who was taken away because of something that happened that freaked people out and she is basically locked up in a cell for 264 without seeing a single person. She hasn’t seen or touched anyone. Not much is revealed in the first part of the book that would indicate why she was taken away without a fight and locked up. You actually think that she might be crazy because to make it through her time being locked up she counts things. Its only about half way through when you get to see the reasons why and can’t help but feel sorry for Juliette.

As for Adam, I was a little unsure of him at first but grew to love him because no matter what Juliette was or had done he was making it a mission to protect her no matter what. That is one of my all time favorite qualities in a guy one who can love a person for who they are and not what they are or did.

Would I read the next book? Of course I would because I am curious to see where this could go.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(First Wild Card Tour) The “What’s For Dinner?” Solution

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and the book:

Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)

***Special thanks to Karri | Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults.

Visit the author’s website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

For many women, dread turns to panic around 4:00 in the afternoon. That’s when they have to answer that age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Many resort to another supermarket rotisserie chicken or—worse yet—ordering dinner through a drive-thru intercom.

In The “What’s for Dinner” Solution, popular author and speaker Kathi Lipp provides a full-kitchen approach for getting dinner on the table every night. After putting her 21-day plan into action, women will

* save time—with bulk shopping and cooking
* save money—no more last-minute phone calls to the delivery pizza place
* save their sanity—forget the last-minute scramble every night and know what they’re having for dinner

The book includes real recipes from real women, a quick guide to planning meals for a month, the best shopping strategies for saving time and money, and tips on the best ways to use a slow cooker, freezer, and pantry.

With Kathi’s book in hand, there’s no more need to hit the panic button.

Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736938370
ISBN-13: 978-0736938372

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Girl Meets Kitchen, or Not

Necessarily a Love Story

“Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on know-how;
it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”

Georges Blanc, from Ma Cuisine des Saisons

I was not the kind of kid who grew up at my mom’s knee, helping her chop carrots for Sunday night’s chicken soup. I never really helped with any meal preparation, preferring to turn my attention in the kitchen to baking. There was always some social event with friends or a youth group party where I needed to bring brownies. The one memorable time I tried to make instant potatoes? Instead of the specified one-quarter tablespoon of salt, I used a quarter cup salt. That incident happened over twenty-five years ago, and I have yet to stop hearing about it from my loving and encouraging family.

Suffice to say, I was a bit ill-prepared for the cooking adventures that lay ahead as I lived on my own for the first time. And to complicate matters? My first apartment was in Uji, Japan, approximately seven thousand miles from my mother’s loving embrace and her pot-roast recipe (as if I could afford beef in Japan).

The recipe cards were stacked against me. No cooking skills to speak of, living in a foreign land where most of the time I couldn’t identify what I was eating much less figure out how it was prepared, a kitchen the size of my coat closet back home, and an oven so small it made me long for the Easy-Bake one of my childhood.

I was terrified going to the supermarket without an escort and a translator. I didn’t speak the language (as a short-term missionary teaching conversational English, speaking Japanese was actually a disadvantage in my job), and as unfamiliar as I was with food shopping in the U.S., shopping in Uji was like watching a foreign movie without subtitles and then having to write a paper on the plot.

Oh, and eating out? So not an option. While my cooking skills were limited, my food budget was near nonexistent.

A few things were easy to recognize. The bread in Japan was amazing. It was buttery and flaky and perfect. And there was some really lovely cheese and ham. So, for the first three months of exploring this exotic new culture, I ate ham and cheese sandwiches every single night for dinner.

As I started to get to know some of my students and coworkers better, I had this urge to invite them over to hang out with me. But I had a sneaking suspicion they would want to be fed. I knew that my students would love some authentic American dishes. The question was, Who would I get to cook them?

Another short-term missionary, Diana, had a cookbook called More-With-Less. This wonderful little book produced by the Mennonite community had tons of recipes that used simple ingredients most cooks would have in their kitchen. While I didn’t have a lot of pantry staples in my four-story walk-up, I was now armed with a grocery list as well as an English-to-Japanese dictionary for my trips to the store.

I started to look for simple things I could make: salads, sandwiches, curries, and mini-pizzas out of English muffins and ketchup. (I promise, my culinary skills and taste have gotten better over the years.) As I grew braver in all things cuisine, I started to ask my mom to send some of my favorite recipes from back home.

In fact, when I threw a Christmas celebration with my friend Spenser in my micro-sized apartment, we managed to make a fondue-potless version of my mom’s Pizza Fondue. Shopping for the ingredients proved challenging, even for Spenser who spoke near-fluent Japanese. After several attempts to translate cornstarch into the native language (One would think corn + starch = cornstarch, right? Wrong. It’s pronounced korunstarcha.), we headed back to my kitchen and made one of the best meals I have ever eaten—lots of tomato sauce, some ground beef, loads of cheese, and just the right amount of korunstarcha.

Pizza Fondue
(Connie Richerson)

½ lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 10½-oz. cans pizza sauce (I use marinara sauce)

1 T. cornstarch (or korunstarcha, if you prefer)

1½ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. garlic powder

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 loaf French bread

Brown the ground beef and onion; drain. Put meat, sauce, cornstarch, and spices in fondue pot. When cooked and bubbly, add cheese. Spear crusty French bread cubes, then dip and swirl in fondue. This is also delicious with breadsticks. Serves 4 to 6.

From that point on, I was hooked on collecting my favorite recipes. I bought my own copy of More-With-Less when I got back to the States, and when I got married a few months later, I received my very first copy of everyone’s favorite red-and-white-plaid Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, with every recipe an emerging home cook could want.

I think most of us home cooks have a similar story to tell. OK, you probably didn’t have your first significant cooking experience in Uji, Japan, but I bet the first few times you got dinner on the table all on your own, you might as well have been in a different country.

Maybe your mom had you peeling potatoes before you could walk. Maybe you have a rich heritage of recipes passed down from your grandmother. None of our cooking histories are going to look the same, but we do have one thing in common: We all need to get dinner on the table.

I am not a professional cook. Tom Colicchio will never be critiquing my braised kale and chocolate with bacon foam on Top Chef. But over the past twenty years I have put dinner on the table almost every single night. And while my family still likes a pizza from the neighborhood shop, our kids who have left home really look forward to coming back for a home-cooked meal.

That is all the reward I need.

Why This Book?

So, you discovered my deep dark secret—I’m not a professional chef. I don’t have my own show on Food Network, my own brand of spatulas, and I’m not going to be appearing on any morning show making a frittata for Kathie Lee Gifford.

Still, I’m required to feed our large family almost daily. So when I come across a cookbook, I have an unnatural need to own it. I’m always looking for new recipes to keep dinner interesting at our house. I have an entire bookshelf in my kitchen for my ever-growing collection.

But to be honest with you, most of the money I’ve spent on those cookbooks could have been better spent on a good set of knives or a heavy iron skillet.

I have found that most cookbooks are aimed at the fantasy life many of us aspire to—entertaining regularly, having unusual and exotic ingredients on hand, and hours and hours in the kitchen to create these masterpieces, from scratch.

And then there is my reality. Yes, sometimes I like to spend a Saturday afternoon cooking up a big feast for friends and family. But most days? I want to get a delicious, healthy meal on the table quickly.

My test when I’m purchasing new cookbooks? I flip to a half dozen or so recipes throughout the book and ask myself, Can I imagine cooking this recipe in the next couple of weeks? If most of the recipes fail the test, the book stays at the store.

I want the reality. I want dinner on the table every night without being seduced by pictures of stylist-arranged food that—let’s be honest—I’m never going to prepare.

While those books offer up a lot of grilled-chicken-in-a-peanut-sauce-in-the-sky dreams, I need some reality. It’s not just about the recipe; it’s about all the aspects of getting dinner on the table.

By the end of this book, my hope for you is that you will be able to:

save time, money, and energy when it comes to
preparing meals
have less stress when it comes to shopping
get your kitchen prepared for battle
learn some stress-free ways to get dinner on the table
get out of your cooking rut
This book is all about the process, the how of getting dinner on the table. It reflects the collective wisdom of hundreds of women who don’t have prep cooks or a crew of interns trying out new recipes. We are the women who spend a significant part of our days thinking about, shopping for, and preparing dinner. And all these wise, wonderful women are going to show you a better way to get dinner on the table no matter what your cooking background or skill level.

This is the book I wish I’d had when I first started cooking, as well as when I was raising my brood of pint-sized food critics.

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of recipes. We all love to find that one recipe that is going to become a family favorite! But this book has much more than that. My hope is that you will be able to use the recipes you already have, the ones in this book, and the new ones you find along the way to set a big, bountiful table for your family.

If you are looking for the perfect gift for the teenager that is going into college/university or moving out on their own then I have to suggest this great little book because not only will it get them prepared but it will also allow them to get organized, teach them how to shop, and to cook some simple meals. I would have loved to have gotten this when I first moved out on my own.

I think Kathi did a fantastic job with this book because everything is explain plain and simple. Kathi even has chapters in the book on how to organize your kitchen (I have a tiny kitchen so having someone provide me with some info is always helpful), your pantry (this came in handy because it always feels like my pantry has way too much stuff in there and with this technique I felt like it was more managable and I twecked it to our family liking), your tools (is it just me or does it seem like we have to have all kinds of gadgets in the kitchen?), your food and your recipes. This might sound overwhelming for such a little book but its not because really we want to be in and out of the kitchen as soon as possible especially if you are a mom with a busy schedule and not spend hours upon hours preparing meals.

I know for me whenever I make something its gotta be done in less that an hour. Kathi gave me the solution to that and its prepare in advance so that I am not making multiple trips to the grocery store. Plus no book would be complete without some recipes and there are quite a few provided in this book. Which are really good because these recipes are great for freezing (so if I happen to see items on sale I can always make it in advance and freeze it and just pull it out whenever I need it) and there was also some for the slow cooker which is a favorite of mine to use in the colder weather.

One of the recipes I have made and made several versions of since getting this book to review is:

Garden Pasta
8 roma tomatoes seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
8 oz of dried angel hair pasta cooked **
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated

Combine tomatoes and garlic in a saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes and then set aside. Toss pasta with butter and basil. Stir in tomatoes and serve with parmesan cheese.

** I have tried all different kinds of pasta.

I am looking forward to trying more of the recipes in this book. I also should mention that I made the recipe that was mentioned above.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) The Samantha Granger Experiment: Fused


TITLE: The Samantha Granger Experiment: Fused (book 1)
AUTHOR: Kari Lee Townsend
PUB DATE: November 2010
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
PAGES:208

SOURCE: I received this book from the publisher.

ABOUT THE BOOK: (from publishers website)
When you make a face or cross your eyes, do your parents tease that if you’re not careful, your face might stay that way forever?
Well, my parents said that if I’m not careful, I’ll turn into one of my gadgets.

I thought they were joking, people!

But—somehow, someway—I have become a living, breathing, walking piece of technology. Apparently my head now has a built-in GPS and my palm is equipped with talking and texting capabilities—just like my cell phone!

Now I’m a techno-superhero with powers that seem to have a mind of their own. And, in my case, keeping a secret identity is harder than it sounds. I short-circuit every time Trevor Hamilton looks my way.

Like being a girl isn’t stressful enough.

MY THOUGHTS:
Fused is the first book in the Samantha Granger Experiment and the next book in the series is called Fearless being released this summer.

This was a quick and fun read. After the stress of the holiday season I wanted something light and fun to read and this was it. I manged to read it in one sitting. Plus there was enough happening action wise that made me want to read more to find out what would happen to Samantha.

I had to laugh when I read the back of the book because I was always told that the faced I made or the rolling of my eyes would eventually stay like that from my parents growing up so that brought back some memories. Even to this day I still have a bad habit of rolling my eyes.

Samantha is walking through the woods on her way home from her best friend Melody’s and they are talking on their cell phones (like most kids). Samantha is lost in the woods (Adirondack Mountains) and Melody thinks its funny because Samantha is The Queen of Technology. (She has the latest gadgets)

Samantha spots a light ahead of her and curiosity kills the cat because she goes to check it out. She is nervous and when she gets closer she reaches out to touch it figuring what does she have to loose. Remember growing up and your parents telling you not to touch things? I guess Samantha never got that talk because she reaches out to touch it. The next thing she knows is she is thrown twenty feet backwards (not one scratch or mark to be found on her) and her cell is missing. She is going to be in trouble for loosing her phone.

Its not until the next day when Samantha begins to experience some weird effects such as massive pain in her head and being able to give her mother directions to her soccer game that afternoon. She is freaking out how did that happen? Then alone in her room, pacing back and forth her cell phone rings. She searches her room looking for it but soon realizes its her hand is ringing. How did that happen? She quickly realizes that all the gadgets on her phone are now inside of her such as the camera, GPS, texting etc. She is a walking piece of technology.

She quickly realizes that she has bitten off more then she can chew. Who can she confide in? If she tells her mother she knows she will be taken to all kinds of drs. The only one she can truly trust is Melody, she tells her everything. She has to keep this secret identity hidden no one can find out. She thinks that this is the worse thing that could have happened to her and tries to find a way to get back to normal.

Will Samantha find the way to get back to normal or will something happen to make her realize that what she has could be something special?

I think this is a great book for the tween girl who is into super hero’s but would like the super hero to be a girl instead of the typical boy.


The Samantha Granger Experiment: Fearless (June 15, 2011) This is book 2.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.